This chewy and lightly sweetened Essential Nut and Seed Granola Bar is perfect for sticking in a backpack or packing in a lunch. A 15 minute no-bake recipe, it’s a breeze to whip up when you need some snacks on hand (and vegan and gluten-free to boot!).
I know I’m not the only one already feeling the burden of the back-to-school grind. Packing bags with everything you might need for the day, thinking through packing snacks so you don’t resort to the chocolate drawer, deciding whether to splurge on lunch out or pack another tupperware with leftovers from the week.
It’s overwhelming – and it’s just the beginning of September.
Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Justin’s. I was compensated for my time in free product, and all opinions are my own.
Having spent a summer with a more laid-back schedule, getting back in the rhythm has been hard for me. I’ve forgotten how many snacks I like to have when I’m out and about!
Adding snacks into my food prep routine has been essential –> and is how these Essential Nut and Seed Granola Bars were born.
These bars have everything I love in them: different nuts + seeds packed with protein and healthy fats, rolled oats for a complex carbohydrate, and classic almond butter + brown rice syrup for a bit of sweetness and stick factor.
Today, I’m using my spoon’s favorite nut butter: Justin’s Classic Almond Butter. Buttery nutty perfection when paired with a dash of vanilla, cinnamon, and salt!
- ¼ cup dry roasted unsalted almonds, roughly chopped
- ¼ cup raw unsalted pumpkin seeds
- 2 cups old fashioned rolled oats
- ¼ cup raw unsalted sunflower seeds
- ¼ cup hemp hearts
- ½ cup brown rice syrup
- ¼ cup almond butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- In a large bowl, mix together oats, almonds, seeds, and hemp hearts. Set aside.
- Line an 8x8 pan with parchment paper covering the sides, and set aside.
- In a pan, heat together brown rice syrup and almond butter. Stir constantly until the mixture is well combined and the edges begin to bubble a bit.
- Remove the pan from the heat and stir in vanilla, cinnamon, and salt.
- Pour the liquid into the bowl with the dry ingredients and stir well. Dump it into the lined 8x8 pan and use an additional piece of parchment or wet hands to flatten the bars firmly until you have an even thickness.
- Freeze the bars for 30 minutes, and then remove the bars from the pan. Slice them into 12 rectangles (or your preferred shape) and wrap them individually in plastic wrap.
- Store the granola bars in the fridge for up to 10 days, or freeze them for up to 2 months.
Adapted from Angela Liddon's Classic Glo Bar recipe.
My biggest complaint with homemade granola bars has always been a crumbly texture, whether baked or not, and these move past that by using brown rice syrup (a recommendation from Oh She Glows’ Glo Bar).
After multiple taste tests (I love my job), the winning combo of nuts/seeds/oats/binder was found and detailed above in the recipe. It is worth buying the jar of brown rice syrup to make a few batches of these bars – it’s extra sticky and not overly sweet! You can stick these in your bag for the day and still come out with a chewy bar at 3 PM.
I left out fruit, because I’ve been bringing fruit as a snack as well, and prefer to use these bars as a handheld trail-mix of sorts. But you can substitute your favorite dried fruit in for some of the nuts/seeds if desired.
Looking for trail mix? Try my Sweet Summit Trail Mix recipe!
Remember to share a photo with me if you recreated the recipe at home – I love hearing from you guys.
Happy snacking!
Marisa
Ashley @ Fit Mitten Kitchen says
Yum these sound so good! I just made granola that resembles this 😉 I have yet to try no bake granola bars with brown rice syrup, but I think I am going to have to try! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Marisa says
Let me know if you try them, Ashley!
Sarah Grace says
mmmm, these look absolutely delicious! I love being able to diy any typical store bought bars that are so expensive!
xo,
Sarah Grace
Marisa says
Yes – the price definitely adds up! You could make these bars even more budget-friendly by only using one mix-in too.
Melanie says
I’ve never used brown rice syrup, but I think I’m going to add it to my grocery list today! I love chewy granola, and it sounds like that’s the missing link in my attempts. Great recipe!
Marisa says
Yay! Let me know if you ended up buying it, Melanie, and trying these out! I had trouble with the bars being too sweet with honey and too crumbly with anything else.
Nora (A Clean Bake) says
These look so hearty and delicious! I always have trouble making granola bars that stick together, but yours look great!
Marisa says
Thanks Nora! I hope you make some tasty granola bars sometime soon!
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine says
Essentially delicious!
rachel @ Athletic Avocado says
these look so darn easy to make! I’d rather eat these than a cliff bar! yum!
Marisa says
Me too!! 😀
Lisa @ Healthy Nibbles & Bits says
These would go down sooo well during my flights tomorrow. Bring some to the conference!!!
Marisa says
I seriously planned on bringing some but I forgot!! Womp womp.
Rachel @ Delicious Balance says
I love bars like this to bring as a snack to work! Definitely going to save to try later!
Marisa says
Awesome, Rachel! Enjoy them!
Jessica @ Nutritioulicious says
These look perfect! I’m so impressed with how well they stick together. They almost look like the Kashi chewy granola bars!!
Marisa says
Thanks Jessica – it’s pretty awesome, compared to all the crumbly granola bars I’ve made in the past!
Simone says
I made these granola bars today and they are so good! I’m excited to snack on these tasty treats between classes all next week 🙂
Marisa says
So excited to hear you enjoyed them, Simone!!
Tara | Treble in the Kitchen says
I loved these granola bars and have made them twice already! Each time, I used walnuts instead of almonds and maple syrup instead of the brown rice syrup (1:1 substitutions for each!). I typically follow a low FODMAP diet and too many almonds is higher in FODMAPs, so using walnuts is a great alternative!
Marisa says
Thanks for the review Tara!! So glad you had success tweaking the recipe 🙂
Kelsey says
These are great! I switched out hemp hearts for chocolate chips 😛
Marisa says
Sounds delicious! So glad to hear you enjoyed them!
Carly @ FitLiving Eats says
Yummy! I love making homemade granola bars and love how simple these look!
Marisa says
Thanks Carly! Hope you try them!